Hockey Teams We Love to Hate

Guest Author - Kevin Thorburn

Everybody has at least one: one team that makes their insides churn if their favourite team loses to them. That taste of bile from the deepest, darkest part of their insides that rises to the back of their throat when those teams clash and the favourite comes out with the short end of the stick is a familiar flavour to most. So, which team does that to you? Here are a few of those teams and a few good and well-seasoned reasons to detest them.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are an easy team to hate. They consistently play poorly and even when they have had a decent season, the Buds can be counted upon to choke in the playoffs. The fact that they are based in the most arrogant city in Canada doesn’t hurt either.

Now, how about a team that has a rich tradition of winning … so rich they can almost be considered cocky, even though they haven’t had a good team in many years. Yes, that would be the Montreal Canadiens. How can anyone not hate the team that has won the most Stanley Cup championships and are so rich in history that they draw deserved comparisons to the New York Yankees in baseball? Oh, it shouldn’t be overlooked that they hail from a part of the country that doesn’t even speak the same language as the rest … and they’re proud of it!

The Edmonton Oilers established themselves as winners in the 1980s with a dynasty centred around Wayne Gretzky and in those few years they became arrogant and never looked back.

The Philadelphia Flyers used physical brutality when they entered the NHL to emphasize their winning ways and they haven’t been able to live down that reputation since … not that they have exactly tried.

The Boston Bruins have played tough throughout the years and have won their fair share making lots of enemies along the way.

One team recently entrenched themselves with the most hated by using plenty of stick-work and nasty hits combined with some bad-attitude players and front office staff. Yes, that would be the Ottawa Senators. They seem to make more stomachs turn with each game they play.

The New York Rangers have remained consistently bad, yet managed to stay a thorn in a lot of team’s collective sides as they wrangled a spot on this list. Naturally, playing in New York and having big bucks for the washed up free agents doesn’t hurt either.

So, which of these teams most draws your ire when they come to play? Perhaps there is another, for whatever reason, that you feel should have been listed here.